U.S. national team midfielder Maurice Edu will spend the rest of the 2012-13 season at Turkish club Bursaspor on loan from Stoke City.

The 26-year-old Californian, whose rise up the professional soccer ranks included an MLS rookie of the year award in ’07, three consecutive Scottish Premier League championships with Rangers FC and three appearances at the 2010 World Cup, hit a bit of a career road block following Rangers’ bankruptcy and relegation last year. He signed with Stoke City in August but has played only 10 minutes for the English Premier League club since (as a substitute in a tie with Liverpool three months ago).

Maurice Edu will play the rest of this season at Turkish club Bursaspor on loan from Stoke City. (AP Photo)

"I'm really glad to be here," Edu told reporters after arriving in Turkey on Wednesday night. "I wasn't at my best form at Stoke City. I have friends who played here before and they all told me good things about Bursaspor.”

One of those friends is fellow U.S. international Jozy Altidore, who spent six months at the club in 2011. Brad Friedel (Galatasaray) and Freddy Adu (Rizespor) are other notable American players who’ve spent time in Turkey.

"I know how Bursaspor fans are,” Edu said. “I was very surprised with the presence of Bursaspor fans in Scotland back when we'd played against them in the Champions League. Bursaspor and their fans are exciting."

Edu has played 42 times for the U.S. but now faces stiff competition for midfield minutes with the likes of Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Danny Williams, Kyle Beckerman and others. Edu’s versatility—he played relatively well as a center back in August’s historic 1-0 win over Mexico—may help him maintain his spot in the coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s rotation. But his chances of making a significant impact in World Cup qualifying this year will decline if he’s not playing regularly at the club level.

“He needs to play games to maintain his chances of playing for the USA,” Stoke coach Tony Pulis said.

Bursaspor’s only Turkish championship came back in 2010. It finished eighth in the Süper Lig last season and currently is in sixth place at 5-3-9.

“Edu is a footballer who we have been following for a long time,” Bursaspor secretary general Ilhan Uslu said Thursday. “We wanted to get him at the beginning of the season but weren’t destined to do so. We believe Edu will be useful to us and an indispensable part of the first 11.”